TheTransitionalDecadeofthe1980s

Takingintoconsiderationtheimportanteventsofthe
transitionaldecadeofthe1980sthatledGreecetowardsMedia
art,wewilllookatthefirstperiodofthedevelopmentof
ElectronicMusicwiththefewtechnologicalmeansthatGreek
artistscouldaffordandhaveaccessto.Wewillalsolookatthe
integrationofvideoasatool,bothasarecordingandacreative
medium,(videoart)inthearts.
TheuseofcomputerinfineartswasintegratedlateinGreece,
withtheexceptionsofthepioneerartistNestoras
Papanikolopoulos,whoseworkwasnotappreciatedbythelocal
artisticcirclesthatexistedthen,andtheadvertiserKostis
Akritidis,whoforesawtheuseofcomputerapplicationsinvisual
communication.
ThefirstlargescaleElectronicMusicLabinGreecewasfounded
in1975.Fouryearslater,IannisXenakissetupthe
ContemporaryMusicResearchCentreinAthens.[30]Therehe
starteddevelopinghisPolyagogic(UPIC)system,whichhehad
alreadypresentedinBonnein1977.Someoftherepresentative
electronicmusiccomposersinGreecewere:AnestisLogothetis
(19211994)[31]andStefanosVasiliadis(19332004)[32],
whointroducedtheideaofmusicSchoolsinGreece.Also,Lena
Platonos[33]belongstotheyoungGreekgenerationof
electronicmusiccomposersofthe1980s.Attheendofthe
decade(1979),theInstituteforResearchonMusicand
AcousticswasfoundedinAthensandaimedatextendingthe
useofnewtechnologiesasworkingtools.[34]
Intheearly1980s,theAthensSchoolofFineArts,alongwith
thecontemporaryGreekartscene,missedauniqueopportunity
tocoordinatewithinternationalmediaart.From1983to1986,
thepainter,sculptorandthencomputerartistNestoras
Papanikolopoulos(1928)[35]taughtattheAthensSchoolof
FineArts(ASFA),afterhereturnedfromFrancewherehehad
fledbecauseofthejunta.Papanikolopoulosfirstdiscoveredthe
relationshipbetweencomputersandart,whenhevisitedthe
prominentexhibitionElectrainParis,in1984.InGreece,
accesstotechnologyandtechnologicalmeanswasextremely
difficult.HetaughthimselfhowtoprogramusingBasicand
Pascalandwroteprogramstocreatedigitalgeometricforms.In
acomprehensivearticleAggelikiGaridisofArtMagwritesof
Papanikolopoulosthathe:wasoneofthefirstartiststo

experimentwiththegraphicpossibilitiesofcomputers,butat
thattimetherewereonlyafewwhocouldappreciateandtake
hisworkseriously.EvenattheAthensSchoolofFineArts,
wherehewasteaching,hiseffortstointegratethecomputer
wererejected.()Atatimewhencomputerprogramsandthe
stateoftheartsoftwarewerenotyetavailabletoeitherartists
ortheaudience,Nestorasworkwaspioneering.[36]
ContemporaryGreekartlostitsopportunitytosynchronize
withtheinternationalMediaartcommunitynotonlybecausethe
brillianceofNestorasPapanikolopouloswasoverlookedinthe
AthensSchoolofFineArtsbutalsobecausetheMinistryof
CulturewasprimarilyconcernedwithcontemporaryGreek
cinema,theatreandmusicfestivals.ThefactthattheAthens
SchoolofFineArtsfoundapermanenthomeandcreatedart
laboratorieswasduetoNikosKessanlis(19302004),apainter
educatedinParisduringMay1968andoneofthemost
importantRectorsinthehistoryoftheSchool.
RegardingthethemesintheworkofGreekartists,itwas
naturalthatthosewhowereactiveinthe1970sandthe1960s
focusedonsociopoliticalissuesthatweredominantGreece
immediatelyaftertheregimechange,aperiodknownas
Metapolitefsi.In1973,thecityofAthensexperiencedthe
studentsrevoltandtheseriesofeventsthattookplacein
AthensPolytechnic.Aftertherestorationofdemocracy,self
exilesbegantoreturntoGreece.Inthesamedecade,Greece
becameamemberoftheEuropeanCommunityandacquired
colourtelevision(1981).
ThehomelandofvideoartisGermanyandthefirstvideoartist
wasWolfVostell(19321998)[37]withhisfirstvideoartwork
Suninyourhead(1963).Thefirstfamousvideoartistwas
theKoreanNamJunePaik(19322006).Duringthesame
periodwhenNamJunePaikwasrisingintheinternationalart
scene,theGreekcityplannerNikosPapadakis[38]created,
underadversecircumstances,aspeciallydesignedvideoart
spaceintheAthensvenueofPolyplano.
Thefirstexplorationsinthefieldofvideoartoccurredinthe
late1970sandearly1980s,althoughartinstallationsexisted
sincethe1960switheventsandperformanceshappeningsince
theearly1970s.ThefirstexamplesofvideoartinGreecewere
theoutcomeoftheindividualworkofartists,whohadlivedor
studiedabroad.Thosesporadiceffortswerelargelydependent
onpersonalsacrificesandthegreateffortsexpendedbythe

artists,duetothelackofaccessibilityofelectronicmediaandto
thecompletelackofsupportbyanyartsmechanismfor
productionanddistribution.InFebruary1980,aLabforVideo
ArtwaslaunchedandtheArtSpacePolyplanopresentedvideo
artprojections.TsikoutaDeimezi,2005[39]
ReturningtoGreece,someartistsexperimentedwithvideo
however,notemployingitasasingletoolforartmaking.
Theyusediteithertorecordevents,orintegrateditasan
elementintotheirsculpturesandonlyafewofthemdeployedit
asameanstocreateautonomousartworks.Forexample,Leda
Papaconstantinou[40],whowasinEngland,workedwithvideo
andfilmquiteearly.Moreover,KostasTsoklis[41]has
frequentlyworkedwithvideosincethe1980s,representing
Greeceatthe42ndVeniceBiennalewithavideoartwork
(1986).

MarianneStrapatsakisInvisiblePlacesTheVastWhite,(2011)Videostill

TwoGreekartistsMarianneStrapatsakis[42]andManthos
Santorineos[43]returnedtoGreeceafterstudyinginFrance
andworkedsolelyinthefieldoftechnologicalart.Thevideo
artistMarianneStrapatsakis,whocollaboratedwiththeFrench
artistRobertCahen[44],hadalreadyparticipatedinmany
exhibitionsabroadwhensheexhibitedherfirstvideoartwork
inGreecein1985.ManthosSantorineoshasbeenamultimedia
artistsincethemid1980s.HefoundedtheLabIkona
[Image],collaboratedwithIleanaTountaContemporaryArt

Centre,andheisalsothefounderofFournosCentrefor
DigitalCultureandtheMedia@terraFestivals.[45]
Inthe1980s,videowasthedominantmediuminGreekMedia
artbecauseitwasthemostaccessiblemediumintermsof
affordabilityandtechnology.Aneducationalcommunitywitha
technologicalartisticdrivethatwouldopenthedoorsto
experimentationhadnotyetexisted.Despitethevolatilityof
thepoliticalandsociallandscapeoftheGreekpostjunta
regime,videoartwasnotabletoplaythepartofan
interventionistor/andsubversivemedium
()initslocalversion,videoartdidnothaveanedgycritical
orsubversivecharacter,asdidguerrillaTVoralternativeTV.
Whatwasfavouredwastheadoptionofvideoasatoolfor
recordingeventsthemonitorwasseenasatechnological
objectandascreenforprojectingthefinalartproduct.The
capabilitytorecordtheimageinananaloguemannercreating
structuralrepetitions,transpositions,linearornonlinear
narrative,stableordistortedimage,wasprimarilysoughtto
translateitintopoeticmetaphors.Videoinstallations,which
havebeenthedominantwayofthepresentationofvideoart,
evenintheinternationalscene,fromthe1980sonwards,were
thecentreofinterestinGreece.AretiAdamopoulou,2005.[46]

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[30]C ontemporaryMusicResearchC enter:http://www.ksyme.gr/(Accessed

on:25/07/2012)
[31]AnestisLogothetis(19211994):http://anestislogothetis.musicportal.gr/
(Accessedon:25/07/2012)
[32]StefanosVasiliadis(19332004):http://composers.musicportal.gr/?
lang=el&c=vasiliadis(Accessedon:25/07/2012)
[33]LenaPlatonos:http://www.myspace.com/lenaplatonos(Accessedon:
01/08/2012)/Flight201:http://youtu.be/EdkbJ4fa92E(Accessedon:
01/08/2012)/ParrotsInitiativesLilipoupoli:http://youtu.be/tLocva5vzR8
(Accessedon:02/08/2012)
[34]nstituteforResearchofMusicandAcoustics:
http://www.iema.gr/aboutus/?lang=el(Accessedon:25/07/2012)
[35]NestorPapanikolopoulos(1928):
http://users.forthnet.gr/ath/sarek/NESTOR.htm(Accessedon:02/08/2012)
[36]NESTORAS.MUSIC IENDEL'IMAGEbyAngulikiGaridisinFrench:
http://www.artmag.com/techno/nestoras/nestor1.html(Accessedon:
25/07/2012)
[37]WolfVostell:http://www.wolfvostell.com/(Accessedon:25/07/2012)

[38]NikosPapadakis,thefounderoftheartspacePolyplano,passedaway
inGreek:
http://news.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_civ_2_02/09/2004_114646
(Accessedon:25/07/2012)
[39]Video:anexpressivemedium,LinaTsikoutaDeimeziinGreek:
http://www.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_kathglobal_1_06/02/2005_1283725
(Accessedon:25/07/2012)
[40]LedaPapaconstantinou:http://www.aaart.gr/C ontent/Artist.asp?
c=2&l=gr&a=155
[41]KostasTsoklis:http://www.biblionet.gr/author/15131/C ostas_Tsoclis
(Accessedon:25/07/2012)
[42]MarianneStrapatsakis:http://avarts.ionio.gr/el/department/teaching
staff/336strapatsaki(Accessedon:25/07/2012)
[43]ManthosSantorineos:
http://www.medialab.asfa.gr/santorineos/gr/santorineos_main3.html
(Accessedon:25/07/2012)
[44]RobertC ahen:FilmographieVidographie:
http://www.jeudepaume.org/index.php?
page=document&idArt=1218&lieu=1&idDoc=730(Accessedon:05/08/2012)
[45]Fournos,C enterforDigitalC ulture:http://www.fournosculture.gr/
(Accessedon:25/07/2012)
[46]GreekArtistsandTechnology,AretiAdamopoulou:
http://www.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_kathglobal_1_06/02/2005_1283726